Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them; for the Lord thy God, He it is who doth go with thee. He will not fail thee nor forsake thee.” – (Deuteronomy 31:6)

Earlier in the week I had the blessing of taking our 2 year old daughter to play at the park after picking her up from school.

She always gets so excited about going to the park.
It’s just something invigorating about being able to run freely; she simply enjoys it.

When we arrived, I took her to the mini park (within the park) to let her climb and run along the little “thing-a-ma-jigs” (don’t know what they call em) they had setup for the children to climb up, and slide down, on.

I could tell that this particular setup was not that thrilling for her (She’s a little daredevil),
So I escorted her to the bigger setup; and was she ever up for the challenge!!

It was higher, bigger, and the slides were a lot steeper. She really enjoyed this one.

But, she didn’t initially start out that way.

When I first got her to the bigger setup, she was a bit hesitant; the higher she walked up, the more timid she seemed to be.

Yet, with each step upward, I kept assuring her with the words “Don’t be afraid, Daddy is right here”… And I could tell that my words were giving her the courage to continue to confidently move forward.

At one point I saw the confidence in her eyes, and they seemed to say “I’ll be okay Because my daddy’s here”.

It caused me to think about some of my most trying times in this life. The moments when I was most unsure, afraid, and things seemed the darkest; as if there was no good end in sight.

Each time, God would be there assuring me, by His word and through His Spirit, “I’m here with you… Don’t be afraid”.

Just Knowing He Was There always helped me make it through.

And that’s the assurance that has helped so many down through the years.. It Helped Moses… It helped Joshua… And, as believers, we have the same promise and assurance today of Knowing He is Near.

We need not be afraid, because He IS near, just as He promised He would be.

Father, today we thank You that You are Faithful to Your promise to never Leave nor forsake Us. We ask that You give us the ability, By your grace, to believe You and hold on to Your promise. There’s something special about Just Knowing You’re There.
In Jesus Name. Amen.

In The Love Of Christ,

Pastor Lowe